Mr Muddy

I had a go at making a couple of live traps out of wire bird ‘peanut’ feeders with a tin one-way catflap style door on either end - a bit like the plastic live traps you see on ebay. My plan was to stake them in the mole tunnels, with the wire on the bottom pushed a little bit into the earth, and then use a bobbin on a rat snare style set up to see when the mole was caught. The bobbin would have a groove cut in it and would be hooked through the top of the wire trap under the turf. When the mole was caught he would knock the bobbin free and it would spring up on the rat snare and I’d sit quiet

Thanks ET, That's about all I managed to discover too.

Friesian live traps: They’re mentioned a couple of times in something I’ve been reading, but I can’t seem to find more information on them. Are there any trap experts on here that can give me some insight? Thanks.

I’m in the south east mate, and if I miss a call or don’t immediately answer an email someone else will have the job within 5 minutes, so don’t ever think there’s any shortage of molecatchers here, there are more than enough. Good luck with going full-time, hope it all turns out well.

Thanks, I was thinking along the lines of an L-shaped tunnel; to stop enything entering from the left. Not that it's going to affect me, I generaly only trap rats & moles - still plenty of traps for them. Glad you posted the picture though, very interesting.

I'm guessing that's probably going to have to be set in a tunnel or box if it's aproved, would that be right?

Of course it does, no one is disputing that. In your original post on your costings, you stated that the job will cost you. So a wasp job might cost you: Travel = £10 Tech Time = £15 Office Time = £5 Materials = £1 Sundries = £18 Total Cost = £49-00 £49-00 is what it cost you to do the job !!!! Does enyone still think £36 is a sensible price to charge? Lets look what it actually cost you. As you stated travel was at £1 a mile I will take it the total mileage for the job was 10 miles. £4.50 and that includes everything to do with your transport. Office time £5 Mater

TC please; I’m not trying to justify my prices, I’m not on here looking for clients, never have been, never will be. My way of costing jobs works for me, I round everything up in my favour of course, why wouldn’t I? If someone disagrees, fine, they can do their own cost sheets – but they should at least work out their costs, because the point I’m desperately trying to get home here is that doing a wasp job costs you much, much more than the 50 pence of ficam that some of the village idiots are letting themselves believe it does.

I can’t believe people are actually arguing the right to charge less rather than more. Says a lot about the mental state and self-worth of some people working in pest control. Suits me fine. I like weak competition

No, I’m simply pointing out that, from one perspective, you don’t make a profit from something until it’s already paid for its self. Yes, it’s an asset; but you can’t spend assets. And yes its deductible; but you need to earn something to deduct it from. So why not add it to a costing sheet that only you’re going to see? If you take a cost per job of around £30 (so, not including the £18 sundry, if you don't think that's being honest), double it and add vat, I think you’ll come close to what I think should be the industry standard. That’s all I’m trying to say, and I think I’ve made a fair

There is no mention of Tax anywhere in that And Tax on the profits of course mate; but it sounds like a lot of people are making a loss

Here’s some of the things that might be on your costing sheet for even a wasps’ nest: Travel expenses @ £1 per mile (including fuel, vehicle purchase/rental, road tax & insurance, vehicle deprecation). Technician’s time (including traveling to job) @ £20 per Hour (inc; holiday, pension & employers contribution). Office time @ £25 per hour (inc; staff, heat, light, power, rent, rates). Materials Sundries – this is really important; say I bought all the kit to do wasps (bee suit, duster, mask, etc = total cost £360) and I want to make my money back in 20 jobs, I will have to add

Mate, it’s perfectly ok to charge £195 or even £1950 as long as that’s what the job’s worth – they’re all different. I.M.O. if you do a site visit & survey then give the client an itemised quote for £195, explaining what you’re charging them for and why (you’ll find templates on microsoft word, which most people already have), you’re more likely to get the job than someone who just says “yeah, rats is 90 quid mate” over the phone. When you see the costs broken down into time, travel, materials, etc you’ll probably realise you’ve been under-charging all along.

From what I’ve experienced you really want to charge more than less. When I started out I tried to be the cheapest in town – I think everyone does. After getting a couple of callbacks and realising I was just breaking even on the jobs I soon wised up. Charging a higher ‘professional’ rate allowed me to spend money on the training, insurance and equipment I needed to actually be a professional. The customers are reassured that I know what I’m doing, I’ve now got time to do the paper work properly and I’m no longer tempted to bodge things because I’m desperate to move onto the next job. Wha

Are there dead wasps in the nest mate? They might have been feeding on something already treated with insecticide.